


Behind His Clouded Eyes

by PseudonymSasha



Series: The Reader Insert Escapades [2]
Category: My Life as a Teenage Robot
Genre: Bad Writing, Drug Addiction, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Other, Reader-Insert, Sorry Not Sorry, Swearing, This Is STUPID, Underage Drug Use, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:00:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26239723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PseudonymSasha/pseuds/PseudonymSasha
Summary: You learn Brad's secret, how long until you break?
Series: The Reader Insert Escapades [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880038
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter Eight: Not So Lovely Weather

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, man! I'm so excited to finally update my cringy reader insert fanfic! These will be getting longer because this story is like writing practice for me, its a little embarassing writing this but i'm having fun. Oh yeah Jenny's crush isn't an oc hes just some guy I came up with on the spot lmao. Also theres more Sheldon/reader moments here because before its been setting up the thing with Brad.

You could feel the moment you remembered the secret. You had waken up, and felt quite nice. But then, there came that rush of realization.

Your life had changed. And so did your perception of Brad . You had burst out for fresh air. Gym was quite brutal. You simply turned, and there he was, like a deer in headlights. His eyes widened as he realized. His secret was revealed. What he feared had come true. And then it happened.

He made you promise to keep it a secret. His fingers dug into your shoulders, his body heat seemed to mix in with yours. At least, that’s what it felt like. Or had it been the heat from outside? Whatever. You could still remember feeling sweat drip down your back. A sickening quiver within your stomach. Thinking of it made you sick, you regretted thinking of it.

But you couldn't help it.

Especially at breakfast. Now. Your mother brought you a small bowl of cereal and a granola bar. You used your spoon to try finish the cereal as fast as possible. But that was indeed an awful idea. You just poked at it with your spoon now. Not wanted to worsen the awful feeling in the pit of your stomach.

“Are you okay, [Y/N]?” Your mother asked you. You looked up at her. You snickered awkwardly.

“I think… I ate too fast.” Your mothers look of concern turned to something along the lines of _‘really?’_ She turned her back, and you shoved the granola bar into your pocket. The wrapper crinkling slightly as you did so.

You weren’t hungry now, but you would definitely feel it later. As you ran by the sofa, you made sure to swipe the Captain Crush comic Sheldon had lended you. Making sure you didn’t damage it, you carefully slid it into your packsack. Beside your lunchbox.

“Bye mom!” You shouted as you left your house. A few grey clouds dotted the sky. They were moving quite fast, the wind told you. And, it was quite visual. A couple of birds chirped, and the leaves rustled in the wind.

You stepped out onto the soaked sidewalk. And began to walk. A couple of lose pieces of gravel crunched under your shoes. You felt your energy drain. Matching your surroundings.

You looked up to see if you were alone. You weren’t. Sheldon walked ahead of you. He lived only a couple of minutes away from you, he actually lived closest to you. You ran, catching up to him very quickly.

“Hi!” You greeted.

“Oh, hey [Y/N]” He replied. “Finish the comic?”

“Sure did.” You said. You pulled off your backpack, and opened it. Carefully, you pulled it out. “Here, thanks for letting me borrow it. Sheldon” He smiled. Taking the comic back.

“Oh, its no problem. I’ll give you the second one tomorrow. Its better then this one. The first one doesn’t have character development yet.” He stated.

“I can tell.” You replied.

“The writing improves as the series goes on. The latest ones have been a little lacking, but you’ll have to see that for yourself.” He rambled.

“Sweet, if you don’t mind, can I borrow another one tomorrow?” You asked. His face lit up, excited with your interest in the comics. He cleared his throat, and straightened his back. Trying to hide this fact.

“If I’m not busy, sure.”

“Thanks, oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Do they have them at the library?”

“I don’t think so. Last I checked they don’t have any comics.” He looked off somewhere, a scowl on his face. _“Apparently,_ comic books aren’t literature. But what do _they_ know?” You giggled at his passionate comment. His eyes returned to you. “What? They have words, they’re on paper! They tell stories! Book is book!” He stated.

“I know, I know. Not really though. I haven’t really been the reading type.”

“Oh, well that’s okay. I’ve never liked sports much. I’m a pretty good swimmer though.”

“Really? That’s pretty cool.” You laughed awkwardly “I…. Can’t swim. At all.”

“Thanks, of course I’m also good at everything related to science and engineering and stuff.”

“Engineering? Like building robots and stuff?”

“Oh, yeah. I build all sorts of stuff. Solar powered toasters, tiny x-rays, …matchmaking script files. You get the point.”

“That sounds mega expensive. Where do you even get the stuff anyways?”

“I mostly work with what I’ve got. Sometimes I go to the junkyard to get small parts. You’d be surprised with how much you could make.”

“Is there anything your working on right now?”

“Yeah.. It’s a gift for Jenny.” You recalled what Jenny had said about him. And that she was interested in someone else. You felt bad for him, despite how creepy he could seem, he was being pretty sweet.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see. Actually. I could show you, maybe get a second opinion to make sure she really loves it!”

“Sure. How about after school?”

“Okay, I’ll show you my garage/workshop.” You crossed the crosswalk as you discussed your afterschool meetup. Subconsciously counting the white stripes as you did so.

With a quick glance ahead of you, you noticed Brad and Jenny walking together. They conversed, just out of earshot. You noticed Jenny had a slight wobble, like one leg was shorter, or she couldn’t balance.

“Oh, hey its Jenny and..Brad.” You mumbled, pointing. Your legs trying to turn the other way as you saw Brad. You didn’t let them.

“Hey, we should walk with them!” Sheldon suggested. His eyes met yours, and you realized you were mumbling in your sudden inferno of nerves. You laughed awkwardly in an attempt to divert attention from it.

“Uh, sure.” You replied.

“Great!” He exclaimed. You began to pick up your pace, but he suddenly stopped you. You looked at him in confusion. “Wait, lets keep this whole gift thing a surprise. Alright?”

“Oh, yeah. No problem, Sheldon.” You said, making thumbs up with both of your hands.

“Okay, thanks.” He said, before now letting you pick up your pace. Great. You thought to yourself. Now you were keeping two secrets from Jenny. Would she be creeped out you helped him? Who knows.

You felt yourself stop behind Brad. Almost hoping he didn’t see you. However, he seemed to sense your presence behind him and turned around to greet you. Jenny and Sheldon conversed as he did so.

“Hello, [Y/N].” He said, uncomfortably devoid of any sort of abnormalities. You squeaked out a pathetic laugh.

“Hey, Brad.” You replied. Your stomach suddenly feeling like boiling lava. You felt as if his very gaze split you open. “How you been?”

“Great. Thanks for asking.” He replied to your inquiry. You were unable to tell if your mind was playing tricks, or if he _did_ have an edge to his voice.

You turned, and walked wordlessly as the others talked amongst themselves. You chewed on your inner cheek as you observed a trio of crows eating out of a fast food bag. Their necks bent into the bag, feeding from its contents in perfect harmony.

If you were a crow, you wondered if you’d also be stuck living with a misogynistic womanizer and a chain-smoking depressive. Unlikely, considering birds don’t exactly get married. Could birds even understand the concept? They seemed more interested in one night stands.

A familiar voice filled your eardrums.

“Brad! Brad! Brad Brad Brad Brad! _BRAAAAAD_!” It cried. Brad turned. Looking to see what the commotion was all about.

“Jeez, Tuck! What is it?!” Brad murmured. Tuck came to a stop, he was on a scooter.

“You forgot your wallet!” He exclaimed. He pulled out a black leather wallet, and handed it to Brad. Brad snatched it hastily.

“Uh, thanks, Tuck. Not sure how I left this.” Brad laughed awkwardly. You started walking again, but now you were beside Brad rather then behind him. He stole a glance at you every five seconds. Seemingly as awkward as you were.

“Are you okay Brad? You’ve been forgetful ever since this whole secret project thing started.” Jenny asked Brad as Tuck scootered off into the distance.

“Yeah, its been super exhausting. But I’ve got it all _totally_ under control, Jenny. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, okay, Brad. But maybe we can help out if you want.” Her eyes left him, instead focusing somewhere in the distance. “Are you making a movie? Gee, that sounds like so much fun!” Brad smiled crookedly. He seemed to have talked himself into a corner.

“Errr, maybe. That depends though. You don’t have to do that for me, of course.”

“Are you kidding!? Being a movie star sounds fantastic!” Jenny exclaimed.

“You’d make a great love interest.” Sheldon added.

“Guys, I’m _not_ making a movie.” Brad intervened.

“Then what are you making?” Sheldon asked him. You could feel Brad’s unease radiating into yourself. You felt bad for him.

“Something. Its no big deal, though. I’ll tell you eventually.” Brad stated.

“If its no big deal why haven’t you told us what it even is yet?” Jenny interrogated. Brad became a little apprehensive the more they questioned this so called ‘project’.

“No reason, I just want to keep it a surprise.”

“So. It’s so big your keeping it a surprise, but its also so small you don’t need any help?” Jenny asked him.

“No! I mean, yes! Exactly.” Sheldon and Jenny exchanged a look.

“Okay, if you say so, Brad.” Said Sheldon.

“Um, anyways. Do you guys know who knocked down that stack of papers yesterday? My homework was there, and it hadn’t been corrected yet.” Brad asked. Jenny hid her hands behind her back. You locked eyes for a moment.

“No.” She replied. Her eyes left him. Brad shrugged it off. You decided not to contribute as Brad and Jenny back and fourthed for a bit. Sheldon joined in a few times. You commented witty things to make them laugh. Walks to school were never really interesting. But you did enjoy spending time with your friends. Hanging out with them was why you walked with them.

When you finally came to the school, you noticed Brad wave to the same group of kids you had seen him with the previous day. Jenny and Sheldon were saying something about screws when Brad suddenly spoke.

“Gotta go, guys. See you later, okay?” He said. You all said something along the lines of ‘goodbye, seeya!” when he left. You walked over to the lockers, where many children already were.

It had been about five minutes. Mindless chatter and random gossip. Sheldon occasionally making it obvious who he had thee hots for. Your new friend decided to say hello.

“Hey, [Y/N].” Orion greeted. His braces showing in the toothy smile he wore. You hadn’t noticed them until now. You noticed his hair was now a paler blond instead of the copperish honey it was yesterday. He must have gotten it touched up.

“Oh, hi Orion.” You replied. You put your binder back into your backpack after a quick glance at your schedule.

“Hi Orion!” Jenny waved happily.

“Hey, I didn’t know you and [Y/N] knew each other?” “Hey, Jenny. I didn’t know you and [Y/N] were friends either.” He chuckled.

“Neat coincidence, huh?”

“Sure is!” She replied before giggling joyfully. The fake sort of giggle when your crush tells a joke. She was _so_ into him.

“Anyways, just wanted to return this to you, Jenny.” He said, before pulling a screw out of his pocket. Jenny’s eyes widened as she saw it.

“You found it! Thank you so much! Yesterday my balance was all weird, and I couldn’t find it anywhere!” She said, before taking it into her mechanical hand.

“No problem.” Orion replied. “Alright, I’ll see you guys later.” He said as he walked away. Jenny waved at him happily. When he was out of your vision, Jenny squealed. Tucking the screw into her chest.

“He’s so nice, [Y/N]! Can’t you believe it?!”

“All he did was give you back that dumb screw.” Sheldon grumbled. He folded his arms in a display of jealousy.

“Sheldon, without this screw my motor function was _completely_ off!” She replied. Sheldon’s features softened. He seemed torn between hating him and being happy for her.

“Yeah, you seem a little too excited, though.” He replied. Jenny rolled her eyes, not letting his mood get in the way of her crush. The bell rang, which meant you would be parting ways now. You stretched before waving goodbye to Jenny and Sheldon. Second period, you had Science. You weren’t particularly excited for it.

To be fair, you weren’t the brightest growing up. You weren’t stupid either, far from it. But at the same time you couldn’t handle the pressure your father put you under. To be the absolute best.

The classroom was quite cold when you entered it. Many children had already taken their seats. A lot of friend groups clumped together and were busily chatting. The teacher was not yet in the classroom, so many students talked. A few were flipping anxiously through binders, and others absent mindedly poked holes in their erasers.

“Hey!” Came a hushed whisper. You looked around. Looking for the source. “[Y/N]! Over here!” It beckoned. You spotted him, Sheldon waved at you from a desk. You waved back, walked over and sitting next to him.

“Hey, Sheldon.”

“Hi, I wanted to tell you something.”

“What?” He looked around to make sure nobody was watching.

“I heard Tiff saying something about their prank this year, last year they used Jenny. Just know that they might invite you to some bigshot sleepover humiliate you.” You were confused. Prank? Sleepover? _Tiff?_ Who the hell was Tiff?

“..Tiff?” You asked. Sheldon looked baffled for a few seconds, before realizing what you meant.

“Oh! Tiff is the other Crust Cousin. The short one?”

“Her? I was wondering what her name was.” You commented. “Wait, what’s this whole pranking thing about? What do you mean sleepover?”

Sheldon was about to speak when the teachers voice cut him off, along with everyone else.

“Quiet, our lesson is starting.” They said. Sheldon leaned in and whispered.

“I’ll tell you at lunch.” before returning to his desk.

Quizzes, questions, and a ton scientists quotes later. You just barely managed to hand it back on time. But you did. The period you had afterwards flew by compared to that. Oh you were definitely feeling not eating breakfast now. But hey, at least you didn’t have gym. You collapsed into your spot at the lunch table. Jenny was already there.

“Hi, Jenny.”

“Hi, [Y/N]” Jenny said. She was sipping from at oil can. Her eyes kept darting to a spot to her left. You got up and stood beside her.

“Watcha lookin’ at?” You asked playfully.

“Orion.” She replied. You looked, and she was telling the truth. Orion was sitting with a group of people. You shrugged and returned to your seat. Opening your lunch box, you took out the contents. A juice box, a ham and cheese sandwich, and a banana. You started with the sandwich.

“Hey, guys.” Sheldon greeted. His eyes downcast. His voice drained. He sat next to Jenny, but didn’t seem to have the energy to be jealous.

“Hey, Sheldon. What’s wrong?” You asked him.

“I forgot I had gym today and I am _not_ ready.” He replied. You mirrored his small frown.

“Not going to lie to you, bud. It wasn’t easy.”

“I know. I heard someone from the soccer team broke a leg!” He shook “She was on the soccer team, [Y/N]! The soccer team!” You recalled gossip you overheard in the bathroom about the event in question.

“They weren’t even _in_ school, Sheldon.” You recalled what you had heard. “I think she fell off a roof trying to impress her girlfriend or something.. uh, anyways. Your gonna be fine. Besides, someone must have approved that thing, right?” Sheldon simply nodded, but his fear remained obvious.

You decided to pay it no mind, instead picking at your sandwich. Tearing small pieces and eating it with your hand. Like fresh bread. Your mind swirled with memories of sitting with Amy the last week of your dying friendship. Silence. Meager hellos. Awkward small talk.

You weren’t sure why, but her dark eyes stuck to you. It had very much contrasted with how things had been with the others around. Selfies, plans, gossip. You missed it. You had known each other for so long, and it felt like it ended so abruptly. After so much happened, it just ended.

So much afternoons spent hurling water balloons at each other. So much phone calls spent excitedly informing each other on your first periods. So much nights spent jumping on your bed, before finally getting tired and drifting into unconsciousness.

You still remembered sharing a cupcake with Tania at an art festival. The pink sprinkles getting all over the both of your small faces. Her father had been chaperoning you. He had to pull you aside so he could get you clean as best as he could.

Brad sat down quietly. No greeting, nothing. But he soon noticed Jenny’s small glances towards Orion.

“Hey, Jen. Whose the lucky guy?”

“Orion.” She replied. Brad looked over to him, he muttered the name under his breath. After a few seconds, he seemed to identify him.

“Really? He seems like he’d date you for a week and bail.”

“Do you think so?”

“I dunno, maybe.” Brad eyed him again. “I don’t know the guy. Never actually seen him here. He’s probably new.” He finished. You wouldn’t know if he was new, of course. This year was your first year here. You assumed Brad, Jenny, and Sheldon had been here for a majority of their lives. It was probably why they knew so much about the social food chain.

Jenny’s eyes finally stopped flickering from him to Brad. Her mouth twisted into a frown and her eyes filled with panic.

“They looked over here, do they think he noticed?” You stole a glance. They simply returned to chatting.

They didn’t seem to have been looking at Jenny, though. Actually, they were probably looking past her, to the table where the Crust Cousins usually sat at.

“I don’t think so.” You stated. Your eyes trailed, and you turned your head to look at the table. The Crust Cousins weren’t doing anything, just talking. You wondered why they had looked over. Perhaps they did something. Or maybe they had looked at Jenny? Eh, probably. She wasn’t exactly being stealthy. And, she was quite hard to miss in a crowd.

“You know, I think he _would_ date you for week and bail.” Sheldon informed Jenny. Jenny stole one last glance to Orion before shaking her head.

“You don’t know that, guys. He’s really nice when we talk. I think he’d date me for at least a whole month!” Brad looked at her. Like a mother trying to explain that grandpa was going to a place called heaven.

“If you say so, Jen.” Brad simply said. He looked like he was trying hard to resist saying something. Orion had been well mannered by how he talked to Jenny. Didn’t seem creeped out by her much. Of course, a crime fighting teenage robot built with the strength of a million and seventy men wasn’t the most common.

She was still designed as, well, a teenager. Just like you. You munched on a bit of banana. Lost in your thoughts. Brad and Jenny exchanged theories about what they thought Orion would be like if he dated Jenny. A memory occurred to you. Of Sheldon saying something about the Crust Cousins or something.

“Hey, you were going to tell me about the Crust Cousins or something, right?” You asked him. He gave you a look.

“Wait, what?” You returned his look of confusion.

“During science this morning. You said you were going to tell me something about the Crust Cousins.” He seemed to think, and then he recalled it.

“Oh, right. I was just going to tell you to ignore them if they invite you to some fancy sleepover. They’ll probably use you and prank you like what they did with Jenny last year.”

“Oh, I remember that. That was awful. I had to clean up everything before Skyway Patrol saw anything. I would have been _deactivated._ It was scary.” You stared at her for a moment.

“Deactivated? What did you do?” She twiddled her thumbs.

“Well.. I flipped a whole bunch of cars, drained a lake, flew a plane, messed up an entire zoo…” Jenny’s voiced trailed off.

“…In one night?” You asked. She nodded. You stared at her. And then a grin made its way onto your face. “You fixed it in one night too? Dude, that’s awesome!”

“Thanks, its just what I’m built for.” She replied. Sheldon suddenly jumped into the conversation.

“Jenny’s pretty cool. Never met anyone like her! She’s like Captain Crush. But a girl.” His eyes trailed to her at the last part. You changed the topic to divert his attention away from worshipping her. You knew it creeped her out.

“Yeah, speaking of Captain Crush. How much comics do you own?” Sheldon immediately knew the answer, he hardly even needed to think about it.

“Oh, those? All eighty one and a half issues. In mint condition, might I add.” He said, holding his hand to his chest. You could tell he was stopping himself from talking nonstop about them.

You decided to let him, but he was a little dramatic about it. Acting out punches and stuff. It was quite entertaining, but at the same time attracting a lot of attention.

“Suck it, nerd!” A large boy with highlighter yellow hair said as he passed. Giving Sheldon a hard shove. God, he needed toner in his hair bad. Like piss, that’s what it looked like. If he bought bleach, why not a toner? Where was I again? Oh, right.

Oh yeah. Before the fourth wall break thing ends, just know that the writing update thing changed from every three days to whenever I finish it.

You offered your hand to Sheldon, and lifted him up. Allowing him to temporarily rest his weight on you as he lifted himself.

“Sorry they pushed you, dude.” You said. He shrugged.

“Its okay. At least I’m not _boring_ like him.” He said, motioning to the boy. “It gets annoying sometimes but I have fun.”

“I can tell.” You remarked.

“I gotta do somethin’ I’ll see you later nerds.” Brad said, standing.

“You just got here.” Jenny said. Brad took a glance at you. Oh, he was _definitely_ smoking. Was he really high this often? Explains why he was so giggly sometimes.

“Uh, my stomach hurts. I think I’ll go..” He glanced around the room. “Get some medicine. From the nurses office. Bye guys.” He said, waving.

“Oh, okay. Hope you feel better Brad!” She said as he disappeared behind the doors. You stared at the doors for what felt like hours. But apparently it had only been like two seconds.

“Poor Brad.” You muttered to yourself. Jenny seemed to notice, but couldn’t quite hear you over the noise in the room.

“Sorry, what was that, [Y/N]?”

“Oh, nothing.” You said, now louder. The light reflecting from the screw caught your eye, and you looked at it.

It was likely from her knee, judging by the teal colour. And, the screw on her navel was present. “Hey, don’t you want to put that screw back before lunch ends?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah definitely.” She said, rather quickly. Sheldon’s head perked up at this.

“I could help, Jenny.” He said. “But we’ll need some tools, so lets to the school workshop.”

“Okay. Coming, [Y/N]?”

“Sure.” You said before gathering your things. You shoved them into your backpack, and zipped it up. After, you exited the cafeteria, and into the school hallway.

You let Jenny rest an arm around your shoulder for support, this garnered a bit of attention from students, and even a bit of staff. They looked over, probably thinking you were a couple, then, looked away once they saw Jenny stumbling quite a bit. The puzzle pieces connecting within their minds.

“Were here!” Sheldon exclaimed as he walked in. A teacher looked up from a newspaper, and looked back down with disinterest.

“What are you in here for, Lee.” He asked, addressing Sheldon by his last name.

“Oh, were just here so we can fix Jenny. One of her screws fell out and we have to fix it so she can walk properly again.” The teacher didn’t even seem to listen to a word Sheldon said, instead pointing him to a shelf at the back of the room. It had many boxes.

“Yeah, go ahead I’m on break.”

“Okay, Jenny, [Y/N]. Follow me.” He said, before taking you to a table. He instructed her to sit, and you both did. You chatted while he spent ages looking around the boxes.

“So, how do you think the screw came loose anyways?”

“I don’t know. If anything, my pigtail screws usually come out.” She replied. She attempted to kick her leg up, only for it to pathetically fail. “I have been fighting quite a bit. Maybe its that.”

“You think it’s the friction? Like wearing it down and stuff?"

“Found it!!” Sheldon’s voice suddenly came. He had a small screwdriver. He quickly ran over. And aligned the screw where it needed to be. He spun the screwdriver, and the screw went in snugly.

“That was fast.” You commented.

“Thanks, Sheldon!” She said, before leaping. She began to do random actions, like run in circles and kicking upwards. “Man, I missed being able to move so quickly!” She said.

“Your welcome, Jenny.” He said with a big grin. The bell rang, which signalled to you that class would be starting again.

“Right on time too.” You added. The three of you exited the room.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys later!” Jenny said, before running off like an excited child. In a way, she was. You waved at her, before hurrying off to your own class. Sheldon doing the same. As you walked down the hallway, you pushed stray pieces of hair away from your face.

The bell rang again.

You hurried out of the class after the flood of students. You scanned the hallway, but were met with nothing but random students. You wondered for a bit, you eventually found a very exhausted Sheldon.

“Hey, you doing okay, Sheldon?” You asked. He just stared at you for a moment.

“I don’t know.” He mumbled. You noticed a few scratches on his face. And a piece of gum in his hair. His arm just barely clinging to his backpack.

“Did you get picked on?”

“Yeah.” He breathed.

“You need to sit down?” You look like your going to pass out.”

“No, no I’m fine. A little tired. But I’m feeling pretty okay.” You nodded, before putting your hands in your pockets. You felt something firm, but it had some sort of plastic like wrapping. You pulled it out. The granola bar from this morning. You had an idea.

You took it, and handed it to him.

“Here.” You said. He looked at it before taking it.

“Thanks.” Sheldon mumbled. He opened it, and started snacking. After he finished, he wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. “Man, I wish I was a cool superhero like Jenny. Maybe then I wouldn’t get picked on so much.”

“Jenny gets picked on too. She isn’t immune to everything.” You said.

“I know.” Sheldon replied gingerly. “But it sounds so cool still. Being able to do all that stuff like flying and having super powers.”

“Yeah, sounds pretty fun.”

“Man, Jenny is so lucky she has powers.”

“Yeah.” You stared at the whole she had busted in the ceiling. It had been fixed fairly quickly. Probably with all the new methods people used now.

“You know, she thinks were lucky to be human. We fit in, at least to her”

“Not really, you sort of have to be born with it.” Sheldon folded his arms. “I don’t care. They can be boring, I like my stuff. I don’t need _their_ approval.” He said sternly.

“That’s a nice quality to have, I wish I had it.” You said with a sad laugh.

“Its easy. You just got to _not_ care!” He said with a smile.

“I know, it just gets lonely sometimes, you know?”

“Yeah, but we got each other now to be huge dorks.” Sheldon said. You chuckled, before holding out your fist.

“Fist bump?”

“Fist bump.”

Fist bump. The bell rang, which caused you, and other students in the hall, to groan.

“Don’t die on me before you show me this cool gift thing, okay?” You ordered playfully. He rolled his eyes with a smile.

“Yes, Captain.” He said, before walking off. Finally, the day ended. You stretched your legs outside of the classroom. Enjoying the feeling after you did so. You walked through the hallway.

You exited the school, the sky was still quite gloomy. It would likely rain again today. You swatted away a few mosquitos as you started walking on the sidewalk. You spotted Sheldon, and he seemed to spot you at the same time. You ran towards each other.

“Hey, Sheldon. Ready to show me this gift you were talking about?” you said with a quick nudge to his arm.

“Yeah, its still unfinished so don’t be afraid to give me your full unfiltered opinion.” He stated. You began walking, more gravel crunching under your shoes.

“What does it do, anyways?.”

“Guess.”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe its some sort of gun attachment?”

“Nope! Keep guessing.”

“Hmmmm. A small pet robot?”

“Nope!” You racked your brain for more ideas, but you couldn’t think of anything.

“I don’t know. Guess we’ll have to see when we get there.”

“I think you’d like it. I really do. I just want to see what other people think before giving it to Jenny.” Sheldon added enthusiastically.

“You make it sound _really_ cool, I look forward to seeing this thing, Sheldon.” A piece of burning metal barely missed you. You fell over, shocked from the sudden burst of heat. You looked to the sky for answers, and you received them. Jenny and some lime green and yellow looking bug person were fighting. She appeared to also be a robot.

“Oh, its Vexus.” Sheldon stated. You turned to him.

“Vexus?”

“One of Jenny’s enemies.” He informed you.

“Should we run, or…?”

“Jenny usually takes care of her, no problem. She always does.” Sheldon said with a toothy grin. Jenny wasn’t very cocky, Sheldon must have been doing it for her.

Vexus. An interesting name. Not ordinary like Bill or Mary or Jordyn. She certainly didn’t _look_ ordinary either. She looked somewhat like an insect. With her bug-like wings and what looked like antennae on her head.

They fought, Jenny using some big gizmo to distract her, and hitting her with another. Vexus dodged them quite a few times, her slim legs moving almost gracefully. She socked Jenny a few times, her fingers twisting into a ball before striking. Jenny had a very quick recovery time, which made sense, considering she probably didn’t feel pain.

Vexus’ face grew into one of mischief, and she swooped down. She nabbed a random car, but luckily nobody was inside as it was parked. She swung the car at Jenny, but she dodged it quite quickly.

Unfortunately, it was headed for you and Sheldon.

You grabbed his wrist, and took off further down the street until you heard the sound of the collision somewhere behind you. You felt a shard of glass narrowly miss your arm, but it cut your shirt. You felt the heat, ever so slightly. The wrecked car was far enough away from you that if it exploded, you’d technically be fine. But it was also close enough that you would feel the last of the blast.

You stared at it, surprised that if you hadn’t moved, you would have died, or at the very least have been severely injured. The car had crumpled on impact, god, the adrenaline rush you felt was intense. Your heart was pounding and your ears were ringing.

You blinked, before you looked at Sheldon.

“That was close!” You said, with a loud awkward chuckle. Your heartbeat was starting to settle. Sheldon looked back to the wreck, the shock also beginning to drain from him.

“..Yeah! Whoa, I could see my life flashing before my eyes.” He said. “A lot of Jenny.” He seemed to mumble to himself rather then informing you.

You released his wrist, upon realising you were still gripping it.

“You ready to continue?” You asked him gingerly. He nodded.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He replied. You begun walking again, this time you glanced behind you every few minutes.

Eventually, Vexus left, but not before shouting something you couldn’t hear. Probably something like _‘I’ll be back, Jenny! This time with an army!’_ speaking of army.

“Hey, if Vexus is a queen. Why didn’t she just get her subjects to get Jenny for her?”

“Oh. Well you see, Vexus was the queen of a plant of robots called the Cluster, right?” You nodded. He continued. “Well, they thought Jenny destroyed all robots for earth, I mean, that’s sort of true. But they tried to enslave us!”

He seemed to be recalling the timeline, but at the same time putting it simpler for you to understand better. “Uh, anyways. Jenny and her daughter figured out that Jenny didn’t destroy these gold chip things, so Vexus was really holding back her subjects. You understanding the story?”

“Uhh, sort of?”

“Okay. Then Jenny and her friend, errr, whats her name again? Vaggie, Vera? Uhm...So they give the Cluster back the golden chips so they could have their powers, and then they overthrew Vexus. Ever since, she’s been coming back every so often to fight Jenny.”

“If the cluster thought Jenny was evil, how did she get there?”

“I’m not sure, actually. I never learned that part, I heard Jenny say her rockets were messed up, though. That explains why she didn’t just come back.” His face fell. “I missed her so much, [Y/N]!”

“That sounds scary, I hardly leave town, can’t imagine getting lost in another solar system!”

“I’ve explored entire galaxies, when I was a space pirate. Its not that bad when you have a map.”

“What was it like? Last time you were a little vague.”

“It was really fun. Not super complicated like the movies, but it was interesting. I got to see all sorts of creatures. There was even planets very similar to Earth. There was a planet of comic books. That one was my favourite.”

“How long were you out there? I’m guessing maybe a year?” A wide smirk appeared on his face.

“Ninety years, actually.”

“What!? How _old_ are you?!”

“Well, technically speaking 106 years old. But i’m still 16, like you.” You felt like you were trying to ring out a dry sponge, that sponge, of course, being your brain.

“But how?”

“Well, it started when Jenny flung we into space with a bunch of aliens. After that I was stuck for seventy years. I came back, but I was pretty old by then. So Jenny and her mom reversed my aging but they went too far so I was a baby. So…”

“So, what?”

“Jenny gave me to the space pirates, for fifteen years.” He snickered. “I was pretty heated about it, but I forgave her.”

“So you get to live your life twice?”

“In a way, yeah.” He said, before you two crossed the crosswalk.

It was odd walking passed your own house. But at least if your parents were bangin’ again you wouldn’t have to sit through it. The sky was still gloomy, and you smelled the rain coming. It was refreshing, and smelled like if cold had a scent. You turned your head, away from your house. Now instead focusing somewhere ahead of you.

“So, where do you live?” You asked to break the sudden silence.

“Oh, just up ahead, were almost there.” He replied, pointing ahead of you. You came to the street, but instead of crossing, you turned right. You kept walking until he pointed. “This is where I live. Now come on!” He said before running to the garage. He opened it, and you followed him in.

It was quite dim. A small light bulb struggled to light the room. A few pieces of equipment lay astray on the cold floor. Boxes of varying contents were scattered throughout the room.

Further in, there was a table, which had the remains of what were once electronic equipment. On the table, there was also blueprints, and many pieces of crumbled up loose leaf paper. A sad old chair was positioned in front of the table. To be honest, it looked like where serial killers made their plans.

“So will you tell me what it is now?” You asked as you entered. He turned to you, holding something shiny.

“No, but I can _show_ you!” He said, before handing it to you.

It was shiny and hard, its metallic shimmer was lovely. It was a ribbon, an accessory. It had a slight purple tint. The center was a screw, and the ribbon extended from it. Two little strands of thin metal completed it.

“Its pretty.” You commented.

“Thats not all it can do!" He said excitedly.

“What do you mean?” You asked. He lifted your hand so he could easily access it.

He pressed the screw, and it shifted, until it was a small butterfly. Its small little wings fluttered gracefully for a moment, then stopped. You had to admit, it was adorable.

Suddenly, he pressed the button again, and it transformed into a flower. You stared at it in awe. The thin metal looked surprisingly good as petals. A couple of metallic leaves even stuck out. The screw acting as the disc.

For the last time, he pressed the center where it morphed into a small bow. But this one was a little special, it was small, but it also lit up. Electric blue emitting from small glass lights built in rows at the ends. “..whoa.” you uttered.

“So.. do you think she’ll like it? I spent so long on it, and I think she’ll like it but at the s-“

“You _made_ this? With scrap metal? By _yourself?”_ You asked. You pressed the center again, and it returned to the ribbon, that seemed to be its default position. The thin metal dangling, unlike the bow.

“Yeah, why? Is it too.. childish?” He said, taking it. You shook your head.

“No, no. Not at all, this is _really_ impressive, Sheldon. I think she will love it.” You said. He smiled softly.

“Thanks.. I need to work on it a little, we could show her maybe… Thursday?”

“Yeah, I think that’d be great.” You said. Thunder struck outside. You hadn’t noticed it had started raining. But now the sound was distracting. You shivered, now realising how cold it was.

“I should probably get home before the rain gets too bad. Sounds like its going to storm.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow [Y/N]. Stay safe.” He said, before sitting in the chair with the robo-ribbon.

You left the garage, and cursed under your breath as you almost slipped from the slick concrete. Your sneakers were getting soaked from cutting across the wet grass. The sound of the rain hitting the ground would have been comforting, but it was getting in your eye lashes and on your face from the wind.

You held out your arm as a shield of sorts. But all that did was make your hand wet and cold. Great, the rain was angled to perfectly blind you.

You felt a strange sense of victory when you turned at the street corner. Like you had outsmarted the weather, that wasn’t true, of course. You just turned away from the rain. You had a good feeling about Sheldon’s gift, but a bad feeling about tomorrow.

You wondered but Brad was doing. He was probably smoking, or buying more weed. You frowned. You felt bad for him. You didn’t smoke yourself, but Jake and Tania’s older brother did. You remembered him asking you if you wanted to try it when you were twelve, of course being the good kid, you refused.

You had tried it later in your life when you were fourteen, you didn’t like the feeling of disappointing your mother so deeply, though. Oh boy, were grounded for so long. You heard your dad mumbling something about me being destined to be a failure in the other room.

You didn’t try to persuade people from smoking it though, you knew they’d say something like ‘Who are you, my mom?! Quit bein’ such a little bitch, [Y/N]!’ So you just never bothered.

You almost pitied them, but at the same time, you were not exactly in any place to judge them. You all grew up too fast from situations beyond your control. And not all of you had the opportunity to deal with it healthily.

The doorknob almost didn’t turn, as it was directly in the rain. It slipped in your fingers for a bit, before you finally got into your home.

The warmth of your house embracing you. Your mother glanced at you, before jumping up in surprise.

“[Y/N]! Your soaked! Your going to get sick!” She exclaimed before running over to you. You stopped her before she could help you remove your wet and cold clothing.

“I’ll do it.” You said before walking up the stairs. You entered your room, and immediately wandered to your vanity. You pulled down your shirt a little bit, the bruises were fading.

They were still noticeable though, that was a no-no. You couldn’t just say you got blackmailed by one of your friends. And saying anything else would just sound like you were covering up hooking up with someone. Your dad was already on your tail about Sheldon, despite him being interested in Jenny.

“[Y/N]? You need to put on something warm and dry, you might get a cold!” Your mom ordered from the hallway. You hastily pulled your shirt up before replying to her.

“Okay, mom!” You said before closing your door. You stripped yourself from your clothes and put on a pair of pajamas. And by pajamas, sweatpants and a big shirt with a cat on it. Your mom opened the door, not even bothering to knock.

“Good, you changed.” She observed. She looked around the room, before picking up the laundry.

“[Y/N], clean up sometime. Anyways, I’ll wash these for you.” She said, before picking up the laundry basket from the corner. Shoving your wet clothes into it. She left the room. You snuggled into your blanket. Sniffling.


	2. Chapter Nine: Slow Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brad's perspective

I open my eyes.

  
I close them soon after, though.

  
The light streaming in through the window hits my right on the face.

  
I turn onto my side, and rub the sleep from my eyes. My eyes feel heavy.

  
I open my eyes again, and lift my head up to try and wake myself up. It doesn’t work well, of course. God, I am such an idiot sometimes.

  
I sat up, and remove my blanket from off my body. My bedroom door creaks as I open it. I pass through it, and exit my bedroom.

  
I turned the doorknob to the bathroom, and let myself in. I looked at myself in the mirror, but I quickly looked away. God, I looked like shit.

  
I swiped a few red strands from my face, and turned the tap on. I waited for the water to turn warm, before I washes my face. I let the water drip from my face for a moment. I just stood there. But then I wiped my face with a cloth, because I just had to.

  
I looked at myself again. A bit of water dripped from my hair, I seemed to have gotten a little in my hair.

  
I exit the bathroom, and enter my bedroom again. By now, I am accustomed to the dawn sunlight. I make my way through the room, avoiding empty soda cans and food wrappers. God, I am so fucking lazy.

  
I come to my bed, where I just collapsed into it, I flip over onto my back, and stare at the patterns on the ceiling. I’m still waking up, so I can swear I see them moving. But I know that definitely isn’t true. Even so, it’s a little entertaining watching it. Almost like waves in an ocean.

  
After awhile, I got dressed, just my usual blazer, vest, and green pants. Just your standard 30 minutes with a blow dryer, the usual.

  
When I finish, I sit on my bed again, mostly thinking of stuff. School, Jenny, weed. Speaking of, I can feel my lungs craving the ashy heat from smoking. It made my lungs feel a weird dryness, but I grew fond of it.

  
I glanced over to my clock. The time read 6:12 AM, super early. Usually I just woke up from an awful dream. I drifted one of my hands over my eyes. God, I really need some sleep. But no matter how tired I was, I could never seem to get a fulfilling rest.

  
I sat up after a minute, and opened my wallet. I zipped it open, and felt around for a slit I made to hide my stash. It was hard to notice if you didn’t know it was there. Which was good, for me, at least. I pulled out a joint, and stared at it.

  
The smell was unmistakable. I put it back. There was no way I could get away with this at home. I already got caught at school. But not by a teacher, no. Worse. One of my friends. She probably told Jenny yesterday, didn’t she? She gets so uncomfortable around me now.

  
I stretched my arms.

  
Maybe she thinks I’ll hurt her or something, I don’t know. I don’t know much about her, she moved here during the summer. I met her at school, through Jenny. They seem to get along great, I’m glad Jenny has a new friend, makes it easier for me to sneak around. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel a little sad that I do this so much.

  
Jenny trusts me so much, and this is what I do? I don’t want to tell her. But I know I have to now.

  
I stand up, and leave my room. I enter the hallway, and take a peak at Tuck’s room. His is at the end in the hallway, so I walked over. He was sleeping quite peacefully, toy cars and Lego bricks scattered carelessly across the room. I smile softly, missing that time in my own life.

  
I close the door gently, and make my way to the stairs, I walk down them. When I was on the bottom floor, I slumped to the kitchen, and ate a banana.

  
My house was quiet. Silent, not a single sound. Ever since moms left, its usually been this quiet. Tuck was still so cheerful, I’m glad he’s doing well. I became, well.. Whatever I was now. A mess.

  
I tossed the banana peel into the trash, and slid my shoes on. Pulling my backpack onto my shoulders, I left the house, being as quiet as I could.

  
The day was quite nice. The sky was still mostly clouds, but there was also quite a bit of blue sky peaking through them. I made my way to the sidewalk.

  
As I walked, I turned back to look at Jenny’s house. I couldn’t help but wander how and what she was doing. Like a strange sense of morbid curiosity. I doubt she’d understand my feeling, though. Even her intricately crafted artificial intelligence had its limits.

  
I turned back around, continuing my trek to school. The still morning air tickling the tip of my nose. I simply ignored it, instead staring blankly at the sidewalk.  
  
After maybe half an hour, I looked up. I half expected _her_ to be somewhere ahead. I usually saw them, but waited until they invited me over. Sometimes, though, I just invited myself. I’m not sure why, but I felt like they would see some sort of pattern and bust me or something.

  
I felt my eyes drift on the street, searching for any sort of movement. Almost like my eyes were starved for it. Well, in a way, I was. The hollow loneliness slowly picking away at my senses. I wasn’t even sure if she would keep it a secret.

  
_I wasn’t even sure if I could keep it a secret._

  
I yawned, pushing the thoughts to the back of my head. Very poorly. God, I’m so fucking weak.

  
My eyes drifted to the sky. I breathed in the cool, fresh air. The scent of fresh rain filling the void my senses had carved into my mind. I never really noticed it as it was happening.

  
I scratched the back of my neck tentatively as the sound of displacing gravel tickled my ears. I could see the bench we had raced to around maybe a week ago. I couldn’t help it, but I stared at it from the corner of my eyes.

  
I watched it quietly, reminiscing in the fun I had that day. It was odd, I felt almost nostalgic for something that happened not even a month ago.

  
A familiar feeling ached inside of me. The loneliness. The one that made me feel like I was about to break. The kind that told me I was destined to be a loner. The kind that made me feel like one more stressful event, and I’d break.

  
I shoved my hands into my pockets, curling them into fists in an attempt to distract myself from my ailment. I looked around, hoping nobody was around. I felt incapable of talking. But I was starved for human contact at the same time.

  
Nobody was around, luckily. I sighed in relief. I continued to walk normally. The sidewalk vacant. Occasionally glancing around to see who was around me. No people around, mostly animals. When the school finally came into view, I picked up my pace.

My shoes squeaked on the shiny tile floor as I walked in. The faint, but at the same time overwhelming sound of an air conditioner buzzing. I gripped the strings of my backpack. My eyes greedily observing everything around me. Nobody. Just me and the blaring silence.

  
I dragged my feet down the hallway, and opened my locker. After this, I just stuck my head in it. It was a safe place of sorts. And, it looked liked I was doing something. Teachers wouldn’t just start talking to me, they’d assume I was busy shuffling through papers or something.

  
The ringing in my ears faded, and I began to enjoy the peacefulness of the school. I liked being here, it was an escape of sorts from everything happening at home. The time in the morning gave me a chance to just relax. Something that had before been a rare treat. Especially with the added stress of maintaining my friendships with Jenny and Sheldon.

  
I didn’t hate them, far from it. But sometimes, just sometimes. I just wanted to be alone.

  
I opened my eyes again upon realizing I was slowly drifting asleep. I rubbed them, and cleared my throat. I glanced around me, but the hallway was still silent.

  
I shut the locker, the metal making a satisfying click! As it did so. I remained at the spot for a few seconds, just soaking up the peace like a dry sponge. I waited for nothing in particular, but eventually I felt like it arrived, so I just went to the bathroom.

  
The bathroom was quieter then the hallway. I rested my body against the wall, and took out my phone. I watched cat videos for like half an hour. 

  
Some random kid came in, I didn’t even look at him, just walked out. There was much more people in the school. I waded through them, and eventually came to the water fountain. The water wasn’t anything spectacular, but I still drank it anyways.

  
A stray drop of water dripped down my chin, like this morning. I just wiped it with my sleeve.

  
“Hey, Brad. Where’s that robot chick?” I hear Lance say behind me. I turn around, and meet his hazel eyes.

  
“I don’t know, man. I don’t keep track of her.” A shit eating grin came to his face.

  
“Really? Thought you two _loooved_ each other!” He said. I snorted.

  
“Aww, fuck you man!” I said, shoving him lightly.

  
“Ahh, you know me. Can’t help myself.” He commented smarmily. I rolled my eyes with a smirk. Lance.

  
“You really can’t, huh?” I added.

  
“You know when Dillan’s getting more Mary Jane? I’m running hazardously low, bro.” _Who the hell actually says mary jane anymore?_

  
“No, how would I know, anyways? He only talks to hot girls, and he hardly comes to school anyways.”

  
“Yeah, he’s a pain in the ass sometimes.” Lance laughed. “Personally, if I was a girl. I wouldn’t even tell him to fuck off.”

  
“Yeah, they probably don’t want to date him though, just after his goods.”

  
“Probably, anyways, if you see him. Can you buy me some weed, dude?” Lance suggested, handing me a twenty. I took it. He never liked talking mine, he was more of a bong guy.

  
“Yeah, whatever, Lance.” I replied. Lance shook my hand, squeezing it.

  
“Pleasure doing business with you, sir!” he said in some stupid accent. I retracted my hand, but the laughter bubbling up in my stomach revealed my amusement.

  
“Okay, okay! You weirdo!” I said. I spotted Jenny down the hallway, she was talking to Sheldon.

  
I felt my face light up at this, they always made me feel better. “I’ll catch you later, dude.” I said, walking away. I came up to them, feeling the smooth paper on the twenty In my pocket.

  
“Hey, Brad.” Jenny greeted.

  
“Hey, Jenny. How’s your new boyfriend?” I teased, if she could blush. She would have been red, or, uh, teal.

  
“Brad!! Be quiet, he’s just over there!” She said, before pointing to Orion somewhere else in the hallway.

  
“Oh, sorry Jenny. My bad, fiancé.” I said. Jenny’s eyes darted to Orion, before returning to mine. The inner gears of her mind turning.

  
“Do you think he might be just that one day?” She said softly.

  
“ _Hopefully not._ ” Sheldon commented. 

  
“I don’t know. If you want you find out, ask him out.” I suggested.

  
“You know what? Your right! I can’t hide forever!” She said, a determined look on her face. I could see Sheldon glaring at me from the corner of my eye. But, I didn’t really care. Jenny should at least have a chance with him before he did something to ruin it.

  
“Atta girl!” I said. She took one step towards him.

  
She froze.

“Okay, maybe at… a later date.” She said. Before returning to where she was standing. She twiddled her thumbs nervously. I couldn’t see or hear anything, but I could tell Sheldon was relieved.

  
“I guess, try not to wait _too_ long, though.” I commented.

  
“Why?” She said, her head perking up.

  
“You know..” I hinted, I’m sure she knew why. She just tilted her head. I sighed. “He might start dating someone else, you know.”

  
Jenny’s eyes lingered on mine, and she looked off somewhere. She didn’t seem to look at any one thing, she must have been thinking.

  
“I..I never thought of that before. I don’t like it.”

  
“Now you know how I feel.” Sheldon mumbled. He was being a bit of a jerk, but I almost felt bad for him at the same time.

  
“You know, I could him out for you if you’re so afraid to.” I stated. Jenny made a noise, just a small ‘hm’ that indicated she heard me.

  
“I don’t know. Maybe we should wait a bit. Not too long, just a bit.” She replied after awhile. She yawned. Something that she did, but not very often.

  
“Are you tired? I’ll let you copy my notes if you want to rest.” Sheldon asked her a little desperately. He was leaning against his locker, something he usually did when he wanted to appear cool to Jenny. It never worked, of course.

  
“No thank you. I’ll be fine. I had to stay awake most of the night to make sure Vexus didn’t ambush me while I was asleep. That’s all” She informed him. Sheldon put his hands in his pockets.

  
“Oh, okay. Well, if you want to I’ll let you.” He said, before dropping the topic.

  
I felt like I had water in my ears, I felt hungry for the smoky bitterness of smoking, but at the same time, I felt awful while doing it. The high barely pushing it away. Jenny’s head perked up again, quickly glancing around the room.

  
“...Hey, she’s not here.” She said more to herself then anybody else. Like we were hearing the last half of a thought.

  
I already who _she_ was, she and Jenny were pretty close. I looked around to see that jenny was indeed correct. She turned to me. “You didn’t happen to see her, did you?”

  
“Well, no. She’s probably just running late.” I remarked.

  
“Probably. Or maybe she’s sick.” Sheldon said. I looked to the entrance of the school, where many people hung around.

  
“Yeah, it was raining hard yesterday.” I recalled. Jenny folded her arms.

  
“Do you think…” She laughed, cutting herself off. “No, no, no. Unlikely.”

  
“What?”

  
“I don’t know. I thought that maybe Vexus kidnapped her or something. What are the odds of that happening anyways?”

  
“I doubt Vexus knows she exists.” Sheldon added.

  
“Yeah, I agree.” I replied.

  
The sound of the bell caught me a bit off guard, but it didn’t startle me too much.

  
“There goes the bell, I’ll see you two later.” Jenny said.

  
“Bye, Jenny!”

  
“Later, Jenny”

  
I flipped open my binder, and ran my finger along my schedule. Day three, I had social first period.

  
I closed it, and shoved it into my bag, I began walking where I remembered the social studies classroom to be. And walked in.

‘ _A democracy is a type of government where the people elect a representative to do shit for em_ ’ I scribbled messily onto the yellow sticky note. I always wrote little swears here and there. Teachers never read notes, that’s why.

  
“Okay, everybody. I want everybody to get into groups of three.” Fuck “And draw a graph. Discuss pros and cons of the type of government you choose to discuss. Then, please explain why you think it should or shouldn’t be more widely used.”

  
I sighed, and looked around. Everybody either went snickering with their friends, or with whoever sat closest to them.

  
“Hey, Brad. Want to be a totally tubular team?!” I hear Lance say. He was doing some stupid surfer dude accent.

  
“Sure.” I replied.

  
“Rad, man.” He replied, still doing the accent. He returned to his own desk, and swiped some pencils. When he returned, he brought his chair so we would be sitting like two tinder dates in a coffee shop.

  
“Got ur shit brooo?” I asked. I had to admit, Lance was rubbing off on me.

  
“Yeah, duuude.” He replied.

  
“I’m gonna stop before my throat starts hurting.” I stated. I ripped out a paper from my binder, and wrote my name on the top. “Sign soul binding contract here.” I joked, flipping the paper so he could write.

  
“Okay Dr.Brad.” He replied scribbling his name in lettering I doubted even he could read.

  
I turned it sideways, and drew the crappiest pros vs cons list ever. “Lets go with communism, for _our_ diagram.” Lance suggested. Putting emphasis on the our.

  
“Really?” I asked him. God he was so annoying, but at the same time it was hard to be annoyed with him.

  
“Yep!”

  
“Okayyy.” I replied, quickly writing communism on the top. I scribbled pros and cons for each title of the awful T I made.

  
“Number one con for our chart. Everybody fuckin’ starves!” Lance said uncomfortably loud.

  
 _“Language.”_ The teacher said flatly from their desk.

  
“Sorry!” Lance called out, before leaning in. “Number one con; everybody fuckin’ starves.” He whispered. I glanced at him, before scribbling ‘starvation’ under cons.

  
For awhile, he cracked jokes. After awhile, though, we actually starting thinking about our answers. I scribbled more answers as quick as I could as he discussed them.

  
The teacher stood.

  
“Times up, make sure your names are on them, hand them in at the front before you leave.” They called out. Lance nabbed the paper.

  
“Seeya later.” He said with a goofy grin.

  
“Bye.” I said as he walked. I grabbed my binder, and shoved my pencil into my pants pocket.

  
I stretched as I left the classroom. I glanced at a clock built into one of the walls.

  
**Three hours**

  
**Two and a half hours.**

  
**One hour.**

  
**Half an hour.**

  
**Five minutes.**

  
**Three minutes.**

  
**Two minutes.**

  
**One minute.**

  
Sooner then what I expected, it was lunch. I walked out of my latest class.

  
A very familiar boy spotted me, and was already dragging me outside before I knew it.

  
“So, you got my stuff, Brad?” Lance asked me. I shook my head.

  
“No, didn’t see Dillan anywhere.” I replied. Lance got these stupid puppy dog eyes.

  
“Cwan I have some of yous, Bwad?” He asked me. I pushed him away.

  
“Yeah, yeah okay! Just cut that out!” I said with a good laugh. I dug into my pocket, and pulled out my wallet.

I could have spent the whole day there. Lance talking my ear off while trying to enjoy the high. To be honest, I liked hanging out with him. He took my mind off of anything happening at home. Mom vanishing, great-aunt Eileen dying, uncle Preston and aunt Judy divorcing, my cousin Henrietta getting arrested. So much. 

  
So, so much.

  
Being around Jenny felt too close to it somehow. She reminded me of before that stuff really happened. It was a little sad, though. I was her best friend. Well, maybe not anymore. _She_ was probably Jenny’s best friend now, not that I minded. Made my job easier.

  
I noticed Lance moving in my peripherals, and I turned my head to face him. He was waving his hand, he _meant_ to get my attention.

  
“Helloooooo, earth to Brad. Did you even hear me?” He said obnoxiously. A bit of impatience weighed his face, but he seemed a bit relieved that I finally responded. I cleared my throat.

  
“Yeah?” I responded. For a moment, he seemed to try to string together his words.

  
“What’s the deal with that girl?” What the hell? Did he read my mind? He was so vague, but I already knew who he was talking about.

  
I felt my heart skip a beat, but not in a good way. My mouth hung open, but no noises came from it. Lance immediately noticed this. “You like her, don’t you?”

  
“What? _No_! Of course not, I hardly even know her!” I retorted. Lance didn’t buy it, for some reason. I was telling the truth. If anything, I was almost afraid of her.

  
“Right.” Lance stated. He leaned in, and I leaned back. “You get nervous around her, don’t you?”

  
“..Yeah, but that’s because-“

  
“Because you _looove_ her!”

  
“According to you, I looooove every one of my female friends.” I stated. Lance chuckled.

  
“Not bad, kid.” He said, ruffling my hair. He made his voice deep and dry. It was funny, he had to reach up to do that. Not go onto his toes, but stretch out his arm.

  
“I’m older then you by like a month.” I said. Lance rolled his eyes.

  
We kept snarkily saying things to each other, eventually the bell rang. I felt my blood go cold. I forgot to go say hi to Jenny.

  
“Th’matter, Brad?” Lance asked. I rubbed my arms anxiously.

  
“Nothing, just forgot something, is all.” I replied. Lance squinted at me.

  
“Whatcha forgeeeeet?” He asked. He’d get along _fantastically_ with Tuck.

  
“Just something.” I said, staring at the floor. Lance was silent for a moment.

  
“Okaaaaaaay.” He finally replied. “Anyways, seeya Brad!” he said before skipping off like some excited child. I waved at him, and walked into my next class.

When I exited the school, I planned on taking a shortcut home. But, Jenny found me before I could run.

  
“Hey, Brad.” She greeted. “Didn’t see you at lunch earlier.”

  
“Teachers had to send me out because the girls could _not_ handle the Bradster.” I lied. Jenny giggled.

  
“Right.” She replied. She clasped her hands behind her back. “what are you up to later?” she asked me.

  
“Super secret awesome project!” I replied. I laughed, after seeing her face. She looked unintrested. “Nothing.”

  
“Want to hang out, then?” She suggested. I thought on it, but for some reason I wanted to pay someone else a visit. A mutual friend, one who knew a bit much, saw what she didn’t mean to. 

  
Not to coax her, of course, but just to talk. Because we were friends, and that what friends are for.

  
“No, not feeling it tonight.” I glanced around. “Not the same without everybody here, Jenny! Its so lonely!” I said dramatically. Yeah, Lance was _definitely_ rubbing off on me.

  
“Yeah, it kind of isn’t.” She said. She looked around her. “We have one on one time basically everyday, anyways.”

  
“Yeah.” I uttered.

  
The rest of the walk home was a breeze, acting normal was easy. I turned at the sidewalk, I said I was going to visit someone. As her house got closer and closer, my hands got a little sweaty.

  
For some reason, I half expected her house to be abandoned or something. I really needed to stop watching horror movies.

  
I knocked on the door, and it felt like an eternity waiting. I heard shuffling behind the door, before the door opened a creak.

  
“Who is it?” someone said. They did _not_ sound well.

  
“Brad Carbunkle.” I answered. The door closed, and I heard moving again. 

  
I could hear a man, and a women. They sounded confused and a little irritated, god, I hoped she hadn’t said anything weird about me. Like I was some creep or something.

  
A large man opened the door.

  
“What are you here for?” He asked. He looked warm and soft, like a teddy bear. He reminded me of my grandma, I missed her. His eyes though, something was a little off.

  
“I’m looking for a girl who lives here.” I asked, he eyed me, his smile tightening.

  
“She’s sick, come again another day.” He stated before closing the door in my face.

  
I stood there for a few moments. I wanted to know she was okay, she didn’t exactly seem the happiest around me. I looked around, and spotted a window. It had purple curtains.

  
_Please have no siblings._

  
_Please do not have siblings._

  
Before I even knew it, I was already peering into her room. I rested my elbows on the window cill.

  
She was currently trying to thread a needle, she didn’t seem to notice me. This was usually something I did with Jenny and Sheldon, but hey, she was my friend now too.

  
She stuck her tongue out, and put the needle and thread very close to her face. Slowly, she tried to thread it again. She failed.

  
“Need help with that?” I asked, her head whipped around, and she clenched her fists. She seemed to have forgotten, at least until the needle was poking just a little into her skin. She yelped. Loudly.

  
I swung my legs into her room. “Sorry, sorry. Probably should have told you I do this with Jenny and Sheldon.”

  
She pulled the needle from her hand, and a little bit of blood trickled out.

  
“Yeah! You really should have!” She half whispered half yelled. Her voice was nasally and a little hoarse. Who I assumed was her dad hadn’t been lying.

  
I heard muffled calls from the hallway, and her face dropped. “Quickly! Get in the-“

  
_Closet._

  
She shoved me into a closet.

  
I heard her and some other person talking faintly. I leaned back, putting pressure onto my hand.

  
I grimaced.

  
Something cut me.

  
I lifted my hand, and with the light streaming in through the crack in the door, I saw a piece of glass. There was glass. Glass. Just, in my hand.

  
I looked down, and something shone in the dim light. I squinted, and realized it was a picture frame. _‘Shit.’_ I thought to myself.

  
My hands trembled as I reached out to flip it. I did so as quietly as possible.

  
What was on the picture made me feel guilty.

  
It was her, of course. But there were also three other girls. They all looked so happy, they must have been her old friends. Well, duh. She looked around thirteen or fourteen in the picture. They were at a party, a birthday party. I could tell it was hers because of the small crown. There wasn’t any indicator of her age besides her appearance.

  
The sting in my palm worsened, and I put the picture down. I could still hear them talking outside the closet door. It was odd, they felt so close but sounded so far away.

  
The feeling of the glass in my hand made me clench my jaw, I lifted my hand closer to my face. A bit of blood was still leaking from it, most of the glass fell out. Some was still lodged, that’s what made me cringe. It was gross.

  
The soft sound of a door creaking caused me to look up. She had opened the closet.

  
“Uh, hey.” I said. She reached out a hand, and I shook my head. I flipped my hand around. Her eyes widened.

  
“Oh my god, are you okay?” She said, she grabbed me by my other hand, and dragged me out of the closet.

  
“I’m fine!” I insisted. She pushed my fingers back so she could look at my hand better. Her eyes loomed over it for a moment.

  
“Is this stuck in your hand?!” She said anxiously.

  
“Yeah, I guess.” I replied. She touched the glass very very gently. I still felt the pressure a little.

  
“Does it hurt?” She asked hoarsely. She must have been coughing.

  
“A little.” I replied. Something must have occurred to her. She glanced at the closet.

  
“Wait, what did you break?” She asked. I laughed awkwardly, feeling bad for breaking something that must have been so important to her. I found myself avoiding her gaze.

  
“Uhh.” I mumbled. “It was.. a picture frame. Sorry.” I replied

  
She looked past me, and wordlessly made her way over to the closet. I felt my heart skip a beat with nerves. ‘she’s going to kick my ass’ I thought.

  
She knelt, and I saw her squint in the light. The moment she saw it was obvious. Her eyes widened a little, and she reached out to grab it. She stood, and brought it over to the bed.

  
“It’s fine, I could get a new frame.” She finally said. She was acting surprisingly calm. She slipped the photograph from the frame, and flipped it to show me.

  
Her index finger loomed over it. “See, look its fine. Just the frame is broken.” I felt myself sigh in relief.

  
“That’s good, I thought you’d be angry and like break the rest of frame on me or something.” I said. She chuckled dryly.

  
“No, I wouldn’t do that. Seems a little extreme don’t you think?” She replied. She lifted my hand again, and poked at the glass. I flinched. “Hmm, really stuck in there, huh?”

  
“Yeah, only hurts when you touch it.”

  
“Oh, sorry.” She said, before pulling her hand back.

  
She stood up, and walked over to her vanity. She opened the drawer, I could see her rummaging around for something.  
“What are you looking for?” I asked.

  
“Tweezers.” She replied, too focused to really pay any attention to me.

  
I swallowed dryly. Eventually she found them. She lazily walked back to the bed, and plopped herself. “Hold really still.” She commanded cautiously.

  
“…Okay..” I mumbled. She took my hand into hers, and I felt myself want to snatch it back.

  
I let out a shaky breath as the tweezers drew nearer and nearer. She was sticking her tongue out, concentrating hard. I felt like she was about to kill me.

  
Sooner then I knew it, the glass was out of my hand, at least the first piece. A drop of blood trickled from the small slit it previously occupied. It stung a little.

  
Then, the next piece was out. I let out a sigh of relief. She pulled the tweezers away.

  
“Done!” She whisper-yelled. I retracted my hand and gently squeezed it shut. Yep, glass was gone.

  
“Hey, thanks!” I said, enjoying how my hand felt.

  
“No problem.” She laughed, and elbowed me. “You owe me a new frame!”

  
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you one.” I replied.

  
“So, what were you here for anyways?” I opened my mouth, and I felt my voice die in my throat for just a second.

  
_I don’t know_.

  
I just wanted to. Just wanted to make sure she was doing fine, I guess. Some part of me was curious as to what she was doing. I guess I had been doing that quite a lot recently. Checking up on people when they got upset with me. Even small things, like spilled juice.

  
She was staring at me expectantly, and I laughed awkwardly.

  
“You know, Jenny wanted to hang out, you feeling too sick for that?” her face stretched into a grin, and her tired red eyes shone for a moment. But her face fell as she glanced to the door.

  
“I feel fine, my parents would send out a search party, though.” She said.

  
“That sucks, maybe tomorrow then.” I replied. I walked back over to the window. “Seeya tomorrow.” I said as I exited.

  
“Bye!” She shouted as I climbed out. My hand still hurt, so I took it easy. Plus, I didn’t want to get it infected.

  
The rest of the walk home felt surreal. Her dad was friendly, but for some reason also intimidating. So nice it was unsettling. Like newbie airport security.

  
There was so many things against the strange churning in my stomach. But still, that odd persistence told me that something was seriously wrong. But she didn’t seem hurt. No, [Y/N] seemed perfectly fine. She seemed nice.

  
Nice.

  
_So nice._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word [Y/N] is only said once.


	3. Haitus

I will be on an indefinate haitus again, due to many things (school, family problems, school problems, ect.) I Have been stressed as of late, and its affecting my productivity greatly. I promise, when I come back. I'll post as often as I can.

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be usually a bit more intresting also, the chapters will be labelled what they are in the story as a whole. Not the work itself, this will be chapter eight, even though its the first in this work. Its so if someone happens to find this before the first part in this series they wont be confused.


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